The results of different interventions administered in 118 cases with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) for 3 years were investigated. The rates of transformation of IFG to diabetes mellitus in metformin treatment groups and rosiglitazone treatment groups were significantly lower than that in life style intervention group. This study suggested that metformin or rosiglitazone treatment could effectively reduce transformation of IFG to diabetes as compared with life style intervention.

AIM: To investigate the ameliorative effect of water extract of propolis (WEP) preconditioning on mesenteric microcirculation of rats subjected to small intestinal ischemia reperfusion (I/R). METHODS: Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham, I/R and WEP (100, 200 mg/kg) preconditioning groups. Model of small intestinal I/R injury was made by clamping super mesenteric artery for 45 min followed by 120 min of reperfusion in rats. Mesenteric microcirculation was detected at the end of reperfusion. The degree of small intestinal injury was The content of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) in plasma and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in intestinal tissue were detected using enzyme linked-immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) and spectrophotometer, respectively. RESULTS: (1) WEP preconditioning alleviated significantly the pathologic lesion in small intestine, and wet/dry ratio, compared to those in I/R group (P<0.01). (2) The disturbance of the blood flow in microvessel induced by I/R was improved significantly by WEP. In addition, WEP preconditioning alleviated significantly the decrease in diameters of microvessels and microcirculatory blood velocity (P<0.05 vs I/R group) and inhibited the adherence of leukocytes to venule (P<0.01 vs I/R group) in a dose-dependent manner. SICAM-1 content in plasma and MPO activity in intestinal tissue were decreased in WEP preconditioning group, compared to those in I/R group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSION: WEP preconditioning ameliorates mesenteric microcirculation of rats subjected to small intestinal I/R through suppressing the activation of polymorphonuclear neutrophils mediated by ICAM-1.

Objective · To compare urine sample collection methods for measuring urinary concentrations of phenolic endocrine disrupting chemicals including bisphenol A (BPA),triclosan (TCS),and 4-n-nonylphenol (4-n-NP) in pregnant women.Methods· Urine samples were collected from women at late pregnancy by two methods:urine catheter and collection bag (n=176),urine collecting containers made of polypropylene (PP) (n=642).Urinary concentrations of BPA,TCS and 4-n-NP were measured with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS)method.Confirmation experiment used PP containers,urine catheter and collection bags,as well as low-density polyethylene (LDPE) tubes and glass containers as both negative controls to collect urine samples from each of the 5 women.Results · Geometric mean (GM) of urinary BPA concentration collected by urine catheter and collection bags was 82.5 ng/mL (95％ CI 71.4-95.4 ng/mL),which was 63 times higher than that from PP containers (GM 1.3 ng/mL;95％ CI 1.3-1.5 ng/mL).Concentrations of urinary 4-n-NP and creatinine were similar between two collection methods.Confirmation experiment showed that urinary BPA concentration collected by urine catheter and collection bags was much higher than those collected by other three methods.Conclusion· In collection of urine samples for measuring phenolic chemicals,PP urine collection container as well as LDPE containers are adequate for use in epidemiologic studies,but urine catheter and collection bag is not.